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Voyage Well with Virgin Voyages

Being able to travel worry-free is what we all really want right now, and everything Virgin Voyages are doing centres around making sure that’s what you can expect when you cruise the Caribbean or Mediterranean with them.  Ultimately, the...
04 August, 2020Scarlet Lady

Being able to travel worry-free is what we all really want right now, and everything Virgin Voyages are doing centres around making sure that’s what you can expect when you cruise the Caribbean or Mediterranean with them.

Ultimately, the goal for Virgin Voyages is to prevent viruses from getting on board their lady ships in the first place — so they’ve established a Voyage Well Expert Advisory Group to review and guide their decisions. This team of air, water and sanitation experts and partners is helping Virgin Voyages to develop enhanced protocols and health screenings, implement new technologies on board, and guide their approach to quick and effective COVID-19 testing, so that when the technology is available, their ships will have it.

They are also in close collaboration with the Center for Disease Control (CDC) and keeping abreast of the World health Organisation's (WHO) best practices and guidelines.

Virgin Voyages Miami Terminal

Virgin Voyages outline that their goals are to:

  • Work with medical testing developers, with the ambition to find a reliable, quick and simple test, that will enable them to ensure only those who test negative for COVID-19 are allowed to board.
  • Notify their guests (Sailors) and Crew 14 days after leaving the ship (through the use of ethical contact tracing and health tracking app) if you’ve come in contact with anyone who has tested positive for the virus on land or at sea.

Virgin Voyages' biggest priority is to keep you safe and give you a sense of confidence when you sail with them, so they are putting together procedures based on the most reliable guidelines out there.

Step Aboard the Scarlet Lady

Before you set sail

Virgin Voyages are following recommended CDC guidelines and working closely with their Voyage Well Expert Advisory Group in order to inform and update their processes and procedures in real time.

They will be implementing additional and frequent pre-boarding health checks and screenings for both Crew and Sailors. They will also install Thermal Camera technology in terminals and on board to monitor the temperatures of all as they board, including crew.

Virgin Voyages are also offering fair and flexible booking policies during this time — from moving the final payment dates to 60 days (from 120 days) before you sail, to allowing you to cancel up to 48 hours before and receive a 100% Future Voyage Credit for sailings, currently through to December 16th, 2020. It's a good idea to check with your Cruise Advisor for the most up to date information on this.

Wellness is a feature of a Virgin Voyage

While you sail

During the voyage, Virgin Voyages will implement best practices around sanitation, physical distancing, limited occupancy, and health checks for everyone on board. Let’s get down to the details of exactly what that will look like:

Keeping it clean

Virgin Voyages will adopt the use of advanced cleaning tools like fogging and UV technology — the same Ultraviolet Germicidal Irradiation methods used in hospitals and laboratories. Every single piece of luggage and delivery to the ship will be fogged down, and all cabins will be fogged prior to Sailors stepping on board, and also in the case that you change cabins during the voyage.

Incorporating the latest hygiene initiatives specifically for COVID-19; there will be sanitising dispensers in every public space, touchless faucets and increased hygiene signage. For best practice in sanitisation and disinfection they will be leveraging hospital grade EPA registered disinfectants from their partner, EcoLab.

Virgin Voyages have identified specific high touch points across cabins, public spaces, restaurants, and recreational areas that will be disinfected on a frequent basis, so that you don’t have to worry before touching a door handle or elevator button when you’re on board.

A breath of clean air

So that you are breathing clean air onboard, Virgin are installing the latest technology in air purification systems that disinfect air on board. Leveraging bi-polar Ionization technology, this air purification system has been shown to kill 99.9% of viruses.

The ratio of cabins with sea terraces is one of the highest in cruising, allowing Sailors plenty of access to (salt-infused) fresh air from their own cabin.

The Wellness Pool

Keeping it social (but distant)

Managing personal space by significantly reducing their overall ship capacity for the start up sailing period means that, onboard, everyone can easily adhere to appropriate social spacing and physical distancing recommendations.

Additional measures include limiting large groups at events through virtual ticketing and keeping empty seats between one another, and leaving tables empty between groups at each eatery.

Eateries

Virgin Voyages don’t have buffets or large dining rooms, instead they purposely created smaller eateries to limit large crowds. And there’s no communal food sharing, all food is prepared on order and delivered directly to you. And, if you choose to use Ship Eats, their delivery food service on board, they have contactless drop off and pick up.

Contactless Service and Payments

Sailors on board a Virgin Voyage will leverage their already-digital onboard experience to limit contact. So much of the experience has been contactless from the outset - The Band (for contactless payment), Service Chat (for assistance digitally) and their Virtual Queues (for getting in the line for onboard experiences without actually getting in physical lines).

Masks

When it comes to wearing masks, Virgin follow the same guidance as is recommended on land — so if people are advised to wear masks there, they will do so at sea, as well.

At Destinations

Virgin Voyages will manage the arrival and disembarkation times of Sailors and Crew at the port terminals, so that necessary physical distancing is possible. For all the Shore Things and at The Beach Club at Bimini, they will only suggest activities on land that meet the sanitation or physical distancing requirements that are also practised on the ship.

Virgin Eats

Looking after the Crew

It will be practice to conduct routine temperature checks for Crew, as well as routine testing for the COVID-19 virus. Any Crew members who come into contact with anyone who tests positive for COVID-19 will isolate and take part in additional health checks to stop potential outbreaks.

Steps are in place for increased Crew uniform cleaning at Virgin Voyages' laundry facilities where the latest cleaning technology is installed; high temperature cleaning that eradicates viruses and harmful bacteria that can live on clothing.

Crew will wear gloves and masks and practise frequent hand washing in high risk areas of contamination like pre-health check terminal welcome areas, delivery areas, laundry and waste disposal areas. They will also receive extensive training and education around COVID-19 that covers proper cleaning and disinfecting to care for you.

Caring for Everyone

Basic COVID-19 testing and any cold or flu-like symptom health screenings will be free of charge on board. Sailors and Crew have 24/7 access to the fully equipped private medical health centre. Virgin have increased their onboard medical capabilities with additional ventilators, and increased inventories of oxygen capacity and PPE.

Any Sailors or Crew who become unwell will be routinely isolated in their cabins to protect others, and anyone who has come into close contact with the impacted individuals will do the same. Isolated Sailors and Crew will receive care from third-party medical providers on board until they can disembark and receive any additional treatment that may be needed.

Bimini Beach Club

After You Sail

Caring for each other extends beyond the time you sail with Virgin Voyages. In the instance that any Sailors or Crew become unwell after the return home, Virgin are planning steps to set up a post-voyage notification app through which Sailors and Crew can inform the line in the instance of falling ill within 14 days of leaving the ship (the COVID-19 incubation period).

The aim is to contact Sailors and/or Crew who may have come in close contact with anyone who became unwell, so you can arrange any necessary follow-up or care.

So if you are keen to sail with Virgin Voyages you can plan your trip knowing they are going to do everything possible to look after you so that you can feel confident and voyage well.

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